


Crash Into Me

by beejette



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's Daughter, Death of a Parent, F/M, Grandpa Tony Stark, Grief, M/M, More tags to be added, Multi, darcy lewis is a mom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-12 00:28:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13535793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beejette/pseuds/beejette
Summary: Darcy Lewis has never depended on anyone for anything. Growing up the daughter of a third-generation hippie without a father-figure will do that to you. So deciding to look up said father was never something she planned to do. He didn't want her, so she doesn't want him, simple as that. But when her mother dies, Darcy has a decision to make: stay with her beautiful daughter in the life she and her mother have managed to make for themselves, or go in search of her father, give her baby girl a family.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I am so sorry for the long wait! I'm slowly working on this again, so updates will be sparse, but bear with me. I'm still on the lookout for a beta, so shoot me an email at beejettexboo on Gmail if you're up for me crying at you and all. Thank you all so much for sticking with me thus far through all the stuff I've put you guys through the last couple of months. 
> 
> xo

Darcy Lewis stands on the curb in front of Stark Tower with no small amount of trepidation, neck craned and free hand shielding her eyes as she takes in floor after floor of windows. It seemed impossibly large, extravagant. But then, she supposes, that describes what she's heard of its owner in the tabloids rather well. 

She's rather hoping the picture everyone paints of the man isn't true. She's hoping the things her mother has told her about him, she hopes that's the man she meets today. Though, she supposes, he is one of the richest, most famous people in the world. He must have his share of strange kids showing up, claiming to be his. Darcy nibbles her lip nervously, considering just turning around and heading back to her hotel. She's got enough money saved up for another week or so. She could find a job. She could provide for the baby girl sleeping soundly in the car seat hanging from the crook of her elbow. She didn't have to meet the man who never wanted to meet her.

But...

Darcy's hand falls, fingers touching the filigree heart hanging around her neck. 

But her daughter is already going to grow up without one grandparent. Whatever she might think about the man, she wants her daughter to know her family.

So, with a steadying sigh, she sets her shoulders, tosses her curls over her shoulder, and heads into the glaring building.

And if she thought the outside was extravagant, it's nothing compared to the inside. 

The floor is black and white marble, the walls and very high ceiling are pristine, and the receptionist desk has an entire fountain wall behind it. 

"Well, Evie...we're not in Kansas anymore," she murmurs under her breath. Her sleeping daughter doesn't respond. 

Darcy heads for the receptionist desk and gives the woman sitting there a polite smile. "Hi, um...I need to speak with Tony Stark, please."

The slip of a woman offers a smile of her own. "Do you have an appointment, ma'am?"

Darcy pauses. She hadn't even thought about it, and her features color. "Um, no."

The woman's smile doesn't waver. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark is unavailable at this time to anyone without an appointment."

Darcy hesitates and then reaches to sit Evie's carseat on the floor a moment. "Could you, uh...could you tell him Rose Lewis' daughter is here," she asks, undoing the clasp of her necklace. It slips down her chest and she plucks it from her shirt front and offers it to the receptionist. "And show him this, please. If he doesn't wanna see me, I'll go without a problem, I promise."

The woman seems to hesitate, and Darcy doesn't know what the woman sees in her eyes, but she nods and reaches to take the necklace. Darcy reluctant to even let it out of her sight -the necklace had been given to her mother by her father when he'd promised they would be together forever, and her mother had been wearing it when she died- but she's willing to. Just this once.

The receptionist disappears and Darcy settles in one of the low slung, obviously expensive chairs to wait. She's been sitting there almost five minutes when Evie wakes up, so she steps into the bathroom to change the girl's diaper and plans to feed her when she gets back to her seat. However, when she exits the bathroom, the receptionist is waiting for her with a smile and asks Darcy to follow her. 

She leads Darcy to a set of elevators and  they take them up to one of the top floors. They step out of the car when the doors open, and the woman leads her past the receptionist desk to knock on the double doors. She opens it a crack, murmurs something, and then opens the door further, stepping back to allow Darcy to step inside.

Inside is a large office, decorated sparsely, but beautifully. Tony Stark sits perched on the edge of the mahogany desk, arms crossed over his chest. He looks different than she's seen in magazines. There's a stained, faded ACDC shirt stretched across his chest, and his jeans have the look of well-use. It surprises her more than a little.

But what really gets her are his features. She's seen pictures, of course, but here, in person, she finds pieces of herself, of her daughter, in his face. It kind of makes her want to cry.

Before she can say anything, Tony speaks first. "So...my kid, huh?" A rueful not-quite smile stretches his mouth. "Boy, if I had a nickel."

Darcy's hackles rise, but she holds her ground, nods. "I know I'm not the first one to show up, claiming the same thing. I don't even know for sure, honestly, but...mom never lied. Never. I don't know why she'd make something like...this...up."

"Who knows why anyone does anything, kid. I only knew the woman for a weekend."

Darcy's glad that motherhood has taught her a little patience. Her old self would've told him to fuck off and walked out already. Her old self wouldn't have come at all.

"Look, Mr. Stark, I'm not here looking for money or fame. In fact, if it wasn't for my daughter, I wouldn't be here at all. But I want her to know her grandfather."

Tony pauses, flicks his gaze over her a moment, before he scoffs, shakes his head. "Nice touch, by the way. The kid. Everybody melts at the sight of a cute baby, right? Lower the guards."

"That's enough," she snaps, anger coursing through her. 

"You know what? Let's take care of this right now." He stands from his leaned position, plucks something that looks a little like a cell phone from the desk. He taps the screen a few times, presses his thumb in the center, and then offers it to her. "Just put your thumb in the middle."

Darcy does, shifting her daughter in her arms. The screen flashes, the device beeps, and then 100% flashes across the screen. Darcy has no idea what that means. Tony's reaction tells her all she needs to know. He grimaces, glances at her, mutters, "Shit," as he rubs his palm across his face. It was like all her childhood nightmares were coming true. Finally meeting her father, and he wasn't proud of what he saw. She wants to push him out the window of his eyesore of a building.

"What? You thought I was lying?"

"More like hoped," Tony grumbles, and it's like a slap across the face. 

"Well, don't worry," she says, voice clipped, kneeling to start strapping her daughter in her car seat, "We'll be out of your hair soon."

"Hey, hey, now what exactly was I supposed to think? For all I knew, you picked this up in a pawn shop." He's holding the necklace. Darcy wants to growl when she sees it in his hands. 

"Right. Cuz I just happened to know what kind of necklace you gave a girl you hooked up with twenty years ago." She stands, snatches the necklace from his fingers. "Or do you have a collection of them? Just something you pull out to get a girl in bed? Just a prop, just like promising them the world, all designed to get you laid and out with as little effort as possible."

"I don't promise 'em anything, kid. They climb in all of their own volition, including your mother." Darcy wants to snarl. "Besides, I'm sure she wasted no time moving on. She had just broken up with that guy when we met. I've known enough girls that jump from man to man to know one when I-," Tony starts, and Darcy's hand cracks across his cheek. Evie gives an uncertain little cry from her seat.

"You can think or say whatever you like about me, but don't you dare say anything like that about my mother. She died in a hospital room still waiting for you."

He looks stricken and it honestly surprises her. He'd never cared about them before. 

Darcy stuffs the necklace into her pocket and picks up her daughter's seat, settling the handle into the crook of her arm, and her voice is cool, clipped, when she says, "Forgive us for taking up so much of your time, Mr. Stark." She turns, heads out of the doors, calls, "Good day," over her shoulder, and she thinks she hears him sigh as the double doors close.

Darcy makes it further than she thought she would before bursting into tears. She walks across the room, ignoring the eyes on her, and punches the button for the elevator, stands and waits for the car with her chin wobbling and behind her eyes burning.

When the doors open, she steps inside, and the doors barely close fully before she's sagging back against the wall, dissolving into tears.

She should've listened to her instincts. She should've stayed right where she was. 

She's shocked by the car pausing and the doors opening to male voices. Darcy sniffs and quickly rubs at her eyes, head bowed as she shifts over to one side of the car so the two men who step on can have the other side. The two men speak in murmured voices and Darcy concentrates on the floor buttons. 

Suddenly, there's a tentative clearing of a throat and a, "Miss? Are you okay?"

Her chin wobbles once more, the urge to blurt her entire sad story strong within her, but instead, she draws the most upbeat smile to her face that she can, and turns it on the two. 

"Yep," she pops cheerfully. "Those sob stories on Facebook always get me."

There's something familiar about the two men looking at her, and she suddenly realizes who's in the elevator with her. 

Captain America doesn't look like he's buying what she's selling, and she can't tell what the Winter Soldier is thinking at all, features impassive.

"Are you sure? Is there...anyone we can call?"

"No, I'm fine, really." She's saved by the arrival of their car on the ground floor, and Darcy shoots them another cheerful smile as she moves before the doors even finish opening. "Have a lovely day," she trills over her shoulder. 

Thankfully, no one chases her out onto the sidewalk and she catches a cab and is on her way back to her hotel before the hour is out. 

There, she feeds Evie, orders out for dinner, and starts looking for a job on her phone. She puts in a few apps before her pizza arrives, and manages to spend the rest of the evening not thinking about her father.

When she turns off the lights, however, and settles beneath the unfamiliar blankets, it's all she can think about. She holds her sleeping daughter and sobs as quietly as she can. When she finally falls asleep, it's with her nose in Evie's baby-fine hair, and dreams of her mother's arms around her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hadn't planned on posting this yet, as I only have probably half of the next chapter written, but you guys have been waiting way too long for this rewrite, so have a double update.
> 
> xo

The next morning, Evie wakes Darcy up way too early, so she takes advantage of it and after she changes and feeds her daughter, she heads out to the coffee shop she'd seen down the street. The Help Wanted sign she'd seen the previous day was still there when she pulled the door open, and when she orders her coffee, she chats with the girl behind the register, implying her interest in working there. 

By the time Darcy's order is called, she's got an appointment set with the manager later that day. 

Darcy returns to her hotel, triumphantly sipping her coffee, but her smile fades the second she sees the expensive car sitting in front of the building. 

Tony steps from the drivers seat as she approaches and Darcy feels a little smug at the fact he looks like he hadn't slept the previous night. 

"What do you want," she asks, walking directly past him. 

"To apologize." 

She hesitates for a second, shocked that the proud Tony Stark would admit he's been an asshole. But then she remembers the displeasure on his face at realizing her words were true and it strengthens her resolve.

"Right. Cuz sorry just fixes everything," she replies over her shoulder.

"No, sorry doesn't fix everything. I can't apologize enough for not being there when you were growing up, kid. But that was Rose's doing, too. She never told me."

Darcy whirls around, and Tony falls back a step, wincing like she's going to slap him again, and she gets a little perverse satisfaction out of it. "She tried to contact you. Multiple times. A 'Mr. Stane' always told her he'd get a message to you. The last time she tried was my high school graduation. After that, I told her not to try anymore, because I didn't need you, and I still don't." She's trying to keep it locked up, but she can't help the tremble in her voice, the way the tears burn and blur her eyes. "I graduated high school, got into college, had a beautiful daughter, and I did it all without you."

Tony looks uncomfortable and sad and angry all at once. "Obadiah Stane no longer has any affiliation with me or my company, and in fact, passed away a number of years ago. Occupational hazzard, you could say. I never got Rose's messages, or you can bet, we wouldn't be just meeting each other, kid. I might not've been Mr. PTA, but I damn sure would've been there, and I damn sure intend to be here now." He pauses, hesitates, and then adds, "If you'll let me, that is."

Darcy isn't sure if she believes him. She knows she doesn't want to believe him. He just stands there, and she watches him and thinks about it until she finally nods. "C'mon then. Evie needs a diaper change," she says, turning from him and continuing into the hotel. She let's him into her room, grunts softly when she sits Evie's seat on the bed and starts to unbuckle her. Tony stands awkwardly by the door. 

"So what are you proposing, exactly," Darcy asks as she lays her daughter on the bed, answering the girl's excited babbling with her own noises and silly faces.

"You and the squirt come live at the Tower."

Darcy glances up at him as she undoes Evie's pants. "That's kinda outta my price range. I've got an interview later today, but it's at a coffee shop, so the paycheck probably isn't impressive."

"That's the second order of business. I need a...well, a professional scientist wrangler. I know you've got experience. One of the perks of the job is room and board."

Darcy thinks about that as she finishes changing Evie's diaper. The pros outweigh the cons in numbers, but she's not eager to follow her mother's footsteps and trust Tony Stark so blindly.

"What's the job description? I mean...what will I be expected to do?"

"Just keep an eye on a few of the science staff, really. Make sure they're fed and get a few hours of sleep every few days. Data input."

Darcy makes a face as she finishes redressing her daughter and lifts the girl from the mattress. "Sounds more like I'd be mommying more than I am now."

"...yeah, I guess so. But on the upside, you get to be bossy and sassy when it's in the scientist's best interest."

"Oh, is that all?"

"I'm one of those scientists you'd get to boss around?"

"I'll take the job."

-

It takes Darcy fifteen minutes to gather her things and Tony helps carry them down to the car. It takes a few moments to figure out how to buckle Evie's seat in the back of the car, and then they're speeding away from the building and Darcy wonders if she'd agreed a little too quickly.

After a few moments of silence, she opens her mouth to speak, only for Tony to beat her to it. "We're going to breakfast."

Darcy blinks at him, shocked by the sudden statement. "Okay," she replies, and Tony nods. Twenty minutes later, they pull up, not at some big, fancy restaurant, like she'd been expecting, but a tiny, slightly grungy-looking diner. Darcy finds a smile stretching her lips despite herself as Tony parks the car. 

They get out and grab a table, and while she and Tony are waiting for their orders, Darcy tugs out a blanket and feeds Evie, and when she can tell it makes Tony uncomfortable to know she's got a boob out, even if it's under a blanket, she asks, "So, what happened with you and Mom? Like, she told me about why you left and everything, but I don't understand how you feel that way about a person and never try to find them."

Tony winces and fiddles with the arms of his sunglasses. "Look, kid, it's... when I went home, I told my parents. Just like I knew would happen, Mom was thrilled, but Dad told me to break it off. He thought I could do better than a waitress, I guess. And he was probably worried Rose was just after money. I mean, the second I heard you were at the tower, claiming to be mine, I thought the same thing. We fought about it, I took off, but when I got back, your mom was gone."

Darcy's brows furrow as she considers the validity of his words. "Her old boyfriend," she finally replies. "She had to move, switch to using her mom's maiden name. She didn't think it would be a problem once she got ahold of you."

Tony rubs his mouth, looking like he wants to say more, but the waitress shows up then with their coffees. "I'm sorry kid," the man says solemnly as he watches Darcy take a sip of the decaffeinated liquid in her mug.

She laughs. "I'm used to it by now. I went off it when I got pregnant. At first, I tried switching to tea, but who knew it had just as much caffeine? Plus, sometimes I can trick my body with the taste."

Tony gives her the same crooked grin she's seen in pictures...on herself. It's still a little disconcerting, but not bad, she decides.

When Evie finishes eating, Darcy sits the girl in her lap, arms curling around her middle. She glances up from smoothing down one of her daughter's errant auburn curls, tender smile on her face, to find Tony looking at her, and he's got a soft smile of his own. It chips more at the wall she'd spent a lifetime building. 

Of course, her daughter knows how to ruin a moment, and gives a belch that would've made a truck driver arch his brows in surprise. Both Darcy and Tony laughs, and the man compliments the baby with a, "Good one, squirt." Darcy watches the way Tony looks at her daughter, gauging his expression, tries to find anything wrong in it. There's a distance, like part of him is still clinging to his old life, but mostly, she just sees fondness in his eyes. The wall chips a little more.

"So what's her name? Her full name, I mean." 

Darcy smiles as she smooths down another curl on her daughter's head. "Evelyn Rose Lewis."

"And her dad?"

Darcy makes a face. "He's a non-issue. He didn't want anything to do with me after we hooked up, much less a kid. When I told him, he took off."

Tony winces. "That's rough, kid."

Darcy shrugs a shoulder. "He wasn't ready. It's understandable. Besides, we don't need him. I mean, yeah, I would've liked her to know her dad, but I have no want for someone in my life who doesn't wanna be there. He didn't wanna know the wonderful person I am or the amazing person his child is, that's on him."

There's something in Tony's eyes -dare she say it- pride? It makes Darcy's heart beat wildly in her chest.

"So tell me more about you. You said you got into college."

Their food comes then, so Darcy has time to construct her answer as she puts her daughter in her seat and offers the six-month-old a few toys from her diaper bag.

"I did, although I'm sure you looked me up, so you probably already know I dropped out," Darcy says when she turns to the table.

Tony nods, sips his coffee. "Cuz of the rugrat, right?"

"Yeah," she nods, "Evie was part of it. Although, after I started to pop, I switched to night classes so I could work part-time, save up money so we could afford for mom to take off and help after I gave birth. I quit and started working full time after Mom was diagnosed."

Tony's eyes drift back down to his plate, and Darcy suddenly isn't very hungry, but she takes a bite of her eggs regardless. 

It's quiet a moment or two, before Tony's saying, "I'd have been there if I'd known, kid. Even if I hadn't known about you, I would've been there for her."

Darcy's throat tightens and she struggles to swallow her bite. "It was quick, honestly. By the time we figured out, there wasn't much to do except make plans. Mom planned it all out so I wouldn't have to do anything." She clears her throat and curls a lock of hair behind her ear. "She's buried with her mom and dad. There's a family plot back home."

Tony is quiet a moment or two, during which Darcy focuses on her coffee, and then he sighs, leans back to stretch an arm over the back of the booth. "I'm not good at...saying things, but this could be home for you too, Darcy. I can help you get back into college, set up things so Evie will have every oppurtunity. I can take care of you both." 

Well, she doesn't know what to say to that. She takes a slow sip of her decaf while she thinks about how to respond. She chooses to mirror his stance slightly, to lean back against the booth, but she crosses her arms as she does, preparing to lay all her cards out on the table.

"Look," she starts, setting him with a cool gaze, "I'm gonna tell you right now that you can't buy me, Tony. The only reason I'm accepting the job and the apartment is that I want my daughter to know her grandfather. I might be your employee, but I am my own woman, and if I decide to leave, I will. Because I take care of myself, and I take care of my daughter." And fuck it, because she's gotten this far... "I know the fact that you weren't there wasn't your fault, but I've spent so long being mad at you about it, and that doesn't go away overnight. While I'll try to stop blaming you for it, it's going to take time, and space, and I need you to respect that. Okay?"

Tony is quiet a moment, looking at her with something that looks like slight amusement, which flares her ire, but then he's speaking. "Look kid, I know you don't know me yet, but I take care of the people I care about. While we've just met, you're my kid. The same way you wanna take care if Evie? That's the way I wanna take care of you. Does it freak me out, going from no kids to suddenly a daughter and a grandaughter? Of course it does, it'd be stupid if it didnt. But even though I didn't get to sit by your mom through the pregnancy, or see your first birthday or your graduation, you're still my kid, and I still care. So I'm going to help as much as I can, cuz in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly living on a budget, here."

"Tony, the entire world has known for some time now that you've literally got money to burn. "

"The point is," he goes on like he hadn't heard her, and she tries not to find it endearing, tries to keep a grin from cracking her mildly annoyed expression, "That I've got a few things to make up for. I hate being in debt. So, the first thing we're taking care of is your mother's hospital bills. No," he insists when she opens her mouth to refuse, "If I'd been there, I would've paid for it myself anyway. In addition, I've got a few decades worth of birthdays, Christmases, child support to make up for, so you'll be getting a card after we get you settled in. Also, non-negotiable. Use it or don't use it, but you'll have it. We can work out anything else, even make up a contract, if you'd prefer."

Darcy considers that for a moment or two. She could refuse and take off right there, but knowing Tony, any bank account she tried to open in the future would mysteriously have his 'redemption money' funneled into it. She's starting to understand where she got her stubbornness. 

"Well...I guess I could make a dent in my student loans."

"Already paid off."

"Tony!"

"What? I told you, if I'd known, I would've paid for it anyway."

Darcy sighs and sweeps off her glasses to scrub a hand over her face. "Okay," she declares after a beat, slipping them back on. "New stipulation. You have to have my permission to pay for anything else, and if I say no, I mean no." Tony purses his lips, like he just tasted something sour. "I mean it, Tony." 

Darcy doesn't even think about the way she extends her fist, pinky finger out, waiting for him to complete a pinky promise, the most sacred of all promises in the Lewis household. It just happens. Tony stares at her hand for a moment or two, like he's frozen, and then he blinks, shakes his head.

 "Sorry, I uh...just remembered...your mom used to do that."

Darcy starts to let her hand fall, pulling away, slightly embarrassed, so she's shocked when Tony suddenly locks his pinky finger with hers, and when she glances up, he's giving her this soft smile, and it actually reaches his eyes, and a large section of wall goes tumbling down.

Darcy clears her throat as they're interrupted by the waitress, coming to ask of everything was alright, since they'd barely touched their food. 

"Yeah," Darcy says, and kinda means it, flashing the woman a smile. "Sorry, catching up. It's good. Um, can I get some more decaf though, please?"

The woman asks if Tony wants more coffee as well, which is a big yes from him, and the woman heads off to grab the pot. 

Darcy's still smiling slightly when she glances back at Tony and picks up her fork. The food is lukewarm, but it's still one of the best breakfasts she's ever had.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this took me so long. I've had the draft sitting in my box for ages, I just hadn't edited it. A big thank you to TeaAndTricks for betaing this for me. Give her some love, she deserves it! Hope you guys enjoy it!

Tony brings Darcy in through the garage, pointing out Avengers members' vehicles. He, himself, had a whole section of exquisitely expensive cars. "And this," he announces, approaching an Aston Martin nestled in the corner, "Is your car."

Darcy is carrying Evie in her arms, diaper bag over one shoulder, having left the seat in the car per Tony's instruction. At the sight of the car she sighs and rubs her face. "Sweet sixteen present," she questions, and Tony flashes her a grin. 

"Yeah, exactly. You can trade it out if you don't like the color." Darcy stands and stares at the gift for a minute or two while she considers how to word what she's going to say.

"Tony," she finally starts, "Iit's really sweet, and thank you, but...I don't wanna drive a car that has more technology than my phone. I mean, I'm grateful, don't get me wrong, but I'm more of a classics kinda girl. I like things with a few miles on 'em."

She glances at her father, fully expecting to see a put-out expression - a pout - but instead he's tapping on his phone. "Have a preference on color," is all he asks. 

"Uh..." She hesitates. "Not really. As long as it's not obnoxiously bright or anything."

Tony nods mildly, pauses, and then continues the tapping. After a moment, he tucks the phone back into his pocket with a grin. 

"C'mon," he says, continuing on toward the elevator, "Lots more to see.

They ride up to the top floors, and Darcy is more than a little surprised when they stop on a floor and Tony immediately heads for a door that has 'Pepper Potts, CEO' printed on a plaque by the entrance. 

He doesn't even knock, either, just goes right in and calls, "Honey, I'm home!"

The woman behind the desk is just finishing up her phone call and stands as Darcy enters. She's tall,willowy, dressed all in white from her impressive blazer right down to the pumps on her feet, with strawberry blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail. "Darcy," she smiles, standing as the brunette approaches the desk. Darcy holds out her hand to shake, polite smile on her face, and the woman does. "I'm Pepper Potts, the CEO of Stark Industries. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to let me know." Darcy nods, slightly overwhelmed by everything, especially how Tony's eyes settle on the woman and linger. She recognizes that warmth, that upturn of the corners of his mouth. She'd seen it on herself plenty of times with Evie's dad. Tony loves Pepper. And while Darcy is happy to see love sprout whenever and wherever it can, part of her can't help but feel... jealous?

"And this must be Evie," the woman continues, unaware of Tony's gaze or Darcy's inner turmoil. Pepper's eyes return to her. "She's beautiful," she says, and Darcy wonders at the emotion behind the words but smiles as she hefts Evie, who's chewing contentedly on one of her mother's curls wrapped around her chubby fist, a little higher on her hip.

"She knows it," Darcy replies with a slight smile. With her daughter's head of dark curls, and bright blue eyes, and dimples she inherited from her father that framed a crooked grin, plenty of people commented on her beauty. While Evie wasn't shy, she was unsure of strangers, and didn't like it when people got in her face. Darcy wonders if Pepper knows that, if it's common among babies or if the woman herself is nervous, because she makes no move to touch those errant curls or pinch her chubby cheeks like any other stranger might have. 

"Well," Pepper continues, "I don't know if Tony informed you, but you're here to set up your security clearance and codes, fill out a few forms. Usually, someone from Security would handle this, but I wanted to do it myself, to meet both you and Evie."

Despite herself, Darcy kind of likes the woman, and blames Evie for softening her. She used to be 'tiny yet full of rage', as so many of her friends had put it. Old Darcy would never have even come looking for Tony. Hey, look at that, emotional development. Go her.

The forms might as well be in ancient Greek for all she understood of it, but Pepper is patient - Darcy knows that was a skill probably garnered from years of having to deal with her father - and explains everything. Within the hour, they've finished, which turns out to be good news, not only because government forms made her head hurt, but because Darcy smells the telltale reek of a dirty diaper as she and Tony step back into the elevator.

He points out the gym floor as they pass it, the food court, and finally, stop on personnel floors. Tony steps off the car, explaining that her bags had already been brought up.

"All you gotta do to unlock the door is press your thumb into the indent," he tells her as they come to a stop in front of one of the doors and then motions to a little screen next to the door. Darcy steps up and obediently places her thumb against the pad and there is a soft beep and slight hiss, and the door opens. 

"Well... this is all very Final Frontier-y," Darcy says as she peeks her head in the door.

"It's a blank color scheme, but you can choose any designs or colors you like, and then the decorators can take care of it, or you can do it yourself if you prefer. There's an open-floor plan kitchen, dining room, living room. Master bedroom, nursery, bathrooms. Pretty standard, I guess. You can put in your grocery order and we'll have it delivered or you can go out and get it yourself and the garage staff will have it all brought up." As he speaks, Tony moves about the apartment, decorated in shades of white and cream, peeking out the windows, and into the fridge, which probably cost more than her first car.

Darcy doesn't know how to feel. Her pride is telling her to turn around and leave, insist she get an apartment elsewhere, but...

She huffs a short sigh and approaches the couch, swinging the diaper bag off her shoulder. "So, I'm gonna guess this building has daycare, correct,?" she asks as she pulls the changing pad from her bag and lays it out on the couch.

"Correct," Tony replies, pausing by the entertainment center.

"I want to tour it." Darcy glances up at him. "This would be the first time Evie and I have spent any time apart. I'm gonna be worried enough already. I wanna know she's in good hands. I also wanna make it clear that while I appreciate the job and the apartment, my first priority will always be my daughter."

Tony gives a nod. "Understood."

"Good." Darcy pulls the tabs of Evie's diaper, and,when Tony gags, she glances up at him with a half-smile on her face. "It's just a dirty diaper."

"That's chemical warfare, Jesus," Tony gasps dramatically, tugging a handkerchief from his pocket and pressing it over his mouth. Darcy laughs at that.

"This isn't even a bad one. Unless you ever wanted to be gassed by baby farts, never give her prunes or brussel sprouts." She finishes cleaning Evie up, straps on a fresh diaper, and then redresses her, smiling when her daughter gives a delighted bumble of noises and baby talk.  "Hey, don't sass me, young lady," Darcy teases, and when Evie reaches up, intent on grabbing tiny fistfuls of her mother's hair, Darcy playfully nibbles at her daughter's chubby hands, lips pulled over her teeth and making glomping sounds. The baby gives a delighted squeal and Darcy follows the sound down to do the same motion over the girl's torso and then up to press rapid kisses over her daughter's laughing face.  
The elder Lewis gives a soft laugh as Evie's hands tangle in her hair as she picks her up, pressing kisses to her daughter's baby-fine hair. 

When she glances up at Tony, he's watching them with that same expression from the diner on his face, like he's taking a mental picture. Darcy offers him a small smile, and then her face twists in a wince when Evie jerks one of the curls around her hand. 

"Careful punk, that's attached," she grumbles, and Tony laughs. 

"So, Pepper has invited you and the tot to dinner tomorrow night after you've settled in and all."

Darcy's brows arch. "Dinner, huh? This gonna be somewhere that requires a jacket and tie?"

"Well, I was more thinking of a dress for you, kid, but far be it from me to dictate what you wear." His phone beeps in his pocket and he tugs it out, taps on the screen, and Darcy is glad because then he doesn't see her grin. She's beginning to see why her mother had always said she was just like her father. "Couple things, though," he says, and hands the phone to her, which surprises her because... why? "This is yours. Perk of the job. Bunch of numbers you'll need already in it. Also." From another pocket he produces a shiny black card, her name across the front in raised gold lettering. "Take you and the tot out, clothes, food, whatever you need."

Darcy takes the card and fights the urge to hand it and the phone back to him. When she looks up, he's got a funny kind of half-smile on his face. "Might as well get used to it, kid. I take care of the people I care about."

And great, now she wants to cry. Instead, she nods. "Fine, but remember what I said: you don't pay for anything else unless you have my permission."

"And that's starting now, right?"  

Darcy doesn't like the gleam in his eye. "Right."

"Okay," he nods amicably, and then there's a smooth female voice that seemingly comes from nowhere and everywhere at once.

"Sir, Miss Potts has requested I remind you of your meeting in ten minutes."

"Oh, yeah, almost forgot about that." When he glances back to Darcy, a grin breaks across his face at her confused expression. "That's Friday. She's an AI that runs the building."

"...runs the building?"

"Yeah. Like Pepper runs the company, Friday runs the building. Just think of her as like the motherboard of your computer."

"Except infinitely more complicated," Friday puts in.

"Yeah," Tony nods, still grinning. "You need anything, talk to Friday and she'll see it gets done."

Darcy nods, a little nervous to be under the radar of an AI. "Alright. This is the weirdest conversation I've ever had, but... nice to meet you, Friday."

"And you as well, Miss Lewis. Shall I take the liberty of setting up a meeting for the daycare center this afternoon?"

 

Darcy blanches, glances at Tony, who only gives her that crooked grin, and Darcy hesitantly bobs her head. "Yeah. Sure. Uh... thanks."

"No problem at all, Miss Lewis."

"Alright, I gotta go. You need to go anywhere, pick a car from the garage and go. Driver too, if you want. Friday's programmed into your phone, so she'll tell you how to get where you need to go. I gotta skedaddle. I'll see you and the tot later."

Tony saunters out of the apartment and Darcy watches him go with a sigh, glancing down at her daughter on her hip. "Definitely not in Kansas anymore, huh?" Evie's only response is to chew her chubby fist and look up at her mother, so Darcy sighs and moves to pick up one of her bags and head for the bedroom.

It takes less than twenty minutes to unpack all her clothes and hang them in the closet, which is absolutely huge, and even with every piece of clothing she brought packed into it, it is still depressingly empty.

Evie's take longer, simply because she has more, and while Darcy moves about the apartment, she makes plans to paint because she's never been a minimalist kind of person.

When all of the clothes are unpacked, she feeds Evie and then puts her down for a nap. While she naps, Darcy takes a look at her new phone. Honestly, she'd been thinking about getting a new one for a while, since her other needed a new battery if the way it kept going dead in the space of a couple hours was any indication, but she hadn't been planning on one like this. After she switches the important numbers from her old one, she spends a little while downloading apps and sending pictures from her old phone to her new.

When Evie wakes, Darcy changes her and decides to head to the store for some necessities. In the garage, she looks between the disgustingly expensive cars, wishing there was a cheap piece of crap she could drive. At least that would be familiar. She finally picks a Mustang and installs Evie's seat in the back. She drives around a bit, trying to familiarize herself with the streets, but it's like a maze, and she finally pulls over to bring up maps on her phone. 

She spends probably ten minutes fighting with herself as she looks between the grocery stores listed on the page. She's a Walmart kinda girl, through and through, used to working on a budget. That girl is at war with the new her, who suddenly has money to spend, but the thought of actually entering a Whole Foods where a head of lettuce costs ten dollars is making her queasy. 

She decides to go clothes shopping first, reasoning that groceries should come last so nothing spoils. Evie is growing out of all her pants and she still has to get an outfit for dinner. She doesn't feel as bad going into Macy's, simply because she reasons that Goodwill never has anything in her size and she's always wanted to go into the store. 

However, shopping there is worse than Whole Foods would be, because a tee shirt costs forty dollars and a pair of jeans...

She decides to only pick up what she needs for the dinner and then runs next door to Ulta to get some makeup. She's never used it much, usually just mascara and eyeliner, but they're having a sale on foundation and she shells out 100 bucks to replace the cracked and broken palettes in her makeup bag, including a new set of brushes. With each purchase that she makes, with each swipe of her carsd that goes through, with no problem, her confidence rises. By the time she climbs into the car, she feels comfortable enough to tap the button to direct her to the revoltingly expensive grocery store.

She shells out nearly four hundred dollars at Whole Foods for basic groceries, and when she sees the amount at the register, it's enough to bring her anxiety back with a vengeance. The card still goes through, not that she doubted it would, but she hasn't spent four hundred dollars at one time since she paid her tuition the last year she spent at college. 

Her final stop is to pick up shampoo, conditioner, body wash, cleaner, and on a whim, she also picks up a few candles, scented and non-scented, mind on the garden tub in the bathroom of her apartment. She also grabs a playpen, since the last one Darcy had broke shortly before she came up.

When she arrives at the Tower, there's already guys waiting to carry bags. Darcy suspects Friday, but she's honestly glad, can't unable to imagine having to carry them all herself and carry Evie.

In her apartment, Darcy sits Evie in her new playpen while she unpacks the bags. Then, instead of making something to eat with the new groceries she'd just gotten, she orders pizza, mostly because she doesn't have any dishes yet - she makes a note on her new phone to pick them up when she goes out again - but partly because she's lazy and hungry.

While she waits for the pizza she unpacks the bags that contain her pictures, odds and ends she couldn't bear to leave at the house, even knowing she would be back, and that's another thing she has to do: go back down for the rest of her stuff. Most of it, like the furniture, would stay, packed up and protected from dust, but there were things Darcy wanted that hadn't been feasible to bring with her, like her books and her mom's hope chest.

Like with the closet, the meager belongings she brought with her aren't enough to fill the spaces, but it's nice to have familiar things around, and by the time her doorbell rings, the place is actually starting to feel a little like home.

When Darcy signs for her pizza, she tips the guy twenty bucks, because she's had that job too and she knows the tips are most of what you get paid. Evie looks on with interest as her mom sets up Netflix on the smart TV and then selects a movie to watch while she eats.

She's already finished when there's a knock on the door. Darcy's brows furrow slightly and she pauses the movie, standing to answer it. 

Steve Rogers is standing on the other side, a bouquet of flowers in his hand and a sweet smile on his face.

"Oh... um... hi," she smiles, curling a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Hi." He offers her the bouquet. "I just wanted to welcome you to the building. Um... Sam said flowers would be appropriate."

Sam... he must mean Sam Wilson and Darcy has a moment where she wonders if this is what her life is going to be like now.

"Oh... thank you," she smiles, reaching to take them. "That's... very sweet of you."

"It's no problem," Steve grins, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I tried to get Bucky to come with me, but..." He shrugs a massive shoulder. 

"Oh, that's okay. I wasn't really expecting anything, so." She glances over her shoulder. "Um... do you wanna come in?"

"No, I gotta get going. I just wanted to stop by for a second. Observe the niceties, as it were. I remember when I first moved to the Tower, so."

"Yeah," she nods. "The whole building is like something out of Star Trek or something."

Steve's grin is easy. "Yeah, takes some getting used to." They both fall silent a moment, and Darcy is just about to ask if he's sure he wouldn't like to come in, but then he says, "Well, I gotta go. Um... welcome to the building and all. Me and Bucky are right down the hall, so if you need anything, don't hesitate."

"Sure," she nods, smiling. "And thanks again. It's been a long time since a cute guy gave me flowers." And she immediately wants to floor to open up and swallow her.

Steve just grins, ducks his head. "You're welcome. It's been a long time since I gave a pretty girl flowers, too."

Darcy is positive she's blushing and nibbles her lip as Steve offers her another nod of his head and starts off down the hall. Darcy watches him go a moment or two before she steps back into her apartment, goofy little smile on her face. She tucks her nose among the blossoms, inhales, takes in the green scent, and then moves to find something to put them in. 

She sets the flowers on her coffee table, ends up looking at them more than she watches the movie. 

When it's over, she gets Evie out, changes her, feeds her, and puts her to bed. She wants to take a bath, but she's suddenly too tired to do anything more than jump into the shower, wash, and jump out. 

She crawls under her nondescript white sheets and sighs against the pillow, the absence of Evie in bed with her like a weight, but the girl had been sleeping soundly when she last checked on her. She thinks about the day, about the things she needs to get still, about planning a trip back home to get her stuff. And, of course, she thinks about Steve Rogers standing on her doorstep with flowers in his hand, thinks about the fact he called her pretty.

"Get over it, girl," she murmurs to herself in the darkness, "He's a national celebrity, and you're a single mom with daddy issues. He was just being nice."

Still, she'd keep the memory to keep herself company on nights when the loneliness got too bad. That's all she could do, anyway. With a sigh, Darcy turns in bed, fluffs her pillow, and tries to fall asleep.


End file.
